Niger Republic rebel leader threatens new attacks

Moussa Kounaï, head of the Patriotic Movement for Freedom and Justice (MPLJ) in Niger Republic, has issued a fresh warning of renewed hostilities against the government led by General Abdourahamane Tiani, threatening imminent strikes on the nation’s oil sector.

In a statement delivered from a remote desert location in northern Niger on Saturday, April 26, Kounaï accused the “Tiani cartel” of betraying the nation and pledged to prioritize attacks on critical oil facilities in what he described as a new phase of the rebellion.

“Our fight is for freedom and justice,” Kounaï said. “The exploitation of Niger’s resources by an illegitimate regime must be stopped.”

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Although Kounaï did not detail specific targets or a timeline for the operations, he made it clear that oil fields and pipelines would be treated as “legitimate targets” in the campaign against what he termed “the usurpers in Niamey.”

Security experts have cautioned that a resurgence in rebel activity could deliver a significant blow to Niger’s already fragile economy, which is heavily dependent on oil revenues.

As of now, the Tiani administration has not officially responded to Kounaï’s threats.

Meanwhile, military patrols have reportedly been strengthened around key oil installations in the Agadem region, amid rising concerns about potential acts of sabotage.

Niger Republic rebel leader threatens new attacks

(Zagozola Makama)

Over 120 inmates escape prison in Chad shoot-out

No fewer than 120 inmates escaped a Chad prison during a shoot-out that left three people dead and wounded a state governor visiting the facility, officials told AFP.

The breakout occurred late Friday when an uprising happened in the high-security penitentiary five kilometres (three miles) from the town of Mongo, in the centre of Chad.

“There are around 100 who escaped, three dead and three wounded,” Hassan Souleymane Adam, secretary general of the Guera province in which Mongo is located, said.

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A local Mongo official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity, disclosed that prisoners broke into a manager’s office to steal guns.

“A shootout with guards ensued at the same time the governor arrived. He was wounded,” he said.

The Mongo official confirmed there were three killed and a total number of 132 prisoners escaped.

He disclosed that the prisoners revolted after complaining about a lack of food.

In a telephone chat with AFP, Chad’s Justice Minister Youssouf Tom stated that he was about to fly to the region and would be able to give “precise information once I am at Mongo in the coming hours.”

Over 120 inmates escape prison in Chad shoot-out

DR Congo boat fire kills 143 passengers

No fewer than 143 people died, and dozens more went missing after a boat carrying fuel caught fire and capsized in the Democratic Republic of Congo, officials said Friday.

Hundreds of passengers were jammed onto a wooden boat on the Congo River in northwest DRC on Tuesday when the wildfire broke out, according to Josephine-Pacifique Lokumu, head of a delegation of national MPs from the region.

The calamity struck near Mbandaka, the capital of Equateur Province, at the junction of the Ruki and the massive Congo River, the world’s deepest.

“A first group of 131 bodies was found on Wednesday, with a further 12 fished out on Thursday and Friday. Several of them are charred,” Lokumu told AFP.

According to Joseph Lokondo, a local civil society activist who helped bury the remains, the “provisional death toll is 145: some burnt, others drowned”.

According to Lokumu, the blaze was triggered by a fuel explosion sparked by an onboard cooking fire.

“A woman lit the embers for cooking. The fuel, which was not far away, exploded, killing many children and women,” she said.

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Videos circulating on social media showed flames leaping from a big boat stranded far from shore, smoke rising from the wreckage, and passengers on smaller vessels watching on.

The precise number of passengers on board the tragic vessel was unknown, but Lokumu estimated it to be in the “hundreds”.

Some people were rescued and admitted to the hospital, Lokondo added.

However, he said that “several families were still without news of their loved ones” on Friday.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), a huge Central African nation spanning 2.3 million square kilometres (900,000 square miles), suffers from a shortage of passable roads, and planes serve just a few cities and villages.

As a result, people frequently travel on lakes, the Congo River (Africa’s second longest river after the Nile), and its winding tributaries, where shipwrecks are common and mortality tolls are high.

The persistent lack of passenger lists frequently hinders search activities.

In October 2023, at least 47 people perished when a boat travelling the Congo sank in Equateur.

According to local authorities, a boat sank on Lake Kivu in eastern DR Congo in October of last year, killing more than 20 persons.

Another shipwreck on Lake Kivu killed approximately 100 lives in 2019.

DR Congo boat fire kills 143 passengers